International Paper Celebrates the Groundbreaking of Greenfield Packaging Facility in Waterloo, Iowa

Following the recent news on Aptar Freyung receiving ISCC PLUS*- Certification, enabling the use of renewable feedstock material for closures production, Aptar Food + Beverage is excited to announce that the Neo™ closure solution for the infant formula market is now available in renewable feedstock material based on the mass-balance approach. This polypropylene (PP) closure is made using sustainably sourced renewable feedstock derived solely from vegetable oil waste and residue, such as used cooking oil and residues from oil processing. There are many sustainability benefits found in using recycled and bio-based materials. First, the reduction of fossil-based resins in food-grade products can reduce the carbon footprint of a closure. Another benefit, from a technical and manufacturing perspective, is that new quality or filling line evaluations are not required. As the resin’s characteristics of fossil-based and renewable feedstock are the same, the closures keep the same level of safety and convenience. In addition, it can help infant nutrition brands to achieve their sustainability goals related to the reduction of CO2 emissions, and the incorporation of recycled or bio-based content measured by the mass balance model.

The Alloyd Division of Sonoco introduced its new, patent pending, roll-feed, cut and seal machine for medical packaging applications that use Tyvek. This innovative, integrated machine brings automation to the production environment, helping to create a faster, more efficient production system for sealing Tyvek-based packaging. It makes for a versatile addition to the existing line of Aergo 2 and Aergo 2 Plus heat sealing machines. “Any time you can increase speeds, seal quality and seal accuracy, while also reducing material scrap and tooling costs, it’s a win, win, win,” said Jim Lassiter, Sonoco segment vice president, Global Plastics. “Precision and performance are so critical in medical packaging where there is very little, if any, room for error. The fact that the addition of this machine to the production process is able to dramatically reduce, or in some cases, completely eliminate operator error, delivers peace of mind for customers because they can have greater confidence in the performance of their final package.”

Kimberly-Clark Professional introduced a customer-centric innovation called Onvation® SmartFit™ technology consisting of a small, internet-enabled sensor that fits inside paper towel and bath tissue dispensers to provide real-time data that helps commercial facility managers schedule janitorial staff more efficiently and reduce waste. "Restrooms are one of the most scrutinized areas of any facility," said Susan Gambardella, President, Kimberly-Clark Professional. "With Onvation SmartFit, we offer customers a valuable service bundle to enhance efficiency, prevent complaints, reduce waste and improve the guest experience." Onvation was already known in the industry as a smart restroom management system featuring SCOTT® towel and bath tissue and PURELL® hand soap. Now, the compact SmartFit™ technology expands that capability to include a wider range of dispenser types including Kimberly-Clark Professional's ICON®, SCOTT PRO® dispenser collections and select universal dispensers.